At The Quinte Hotel

From 2002, Featuring Canadian poet Al Purdy's poem "At The Quinte Hotel," this piece tells the story of a man's experience at the bar. Starring Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip.

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[Koda007]

I grew up in Trenton in the 70/80's. Most of the bad influences on us was because of the Quinte Hotel. The first time I drank a beer was at the Quinte, I was 15. Saw my first stripper at the Quinte. Saw Varouge, Helix, Max Webster and many more at the Q. I even had a gun pointed at my head one cold January night in '79/80 by a undercover police officer. They were getting ready for the first of many big raids in Trenton. It didn't seem like it then but looking back it was a scary fucking place.

[therealsw00p]

This isn't Gord and it isn't Alan Purdy: the poet in question is Alfred Wellington Purdy, better known and published as "Al Purdy".

[Travis McDonald]

I believe he wrote this about the Sherwood Forest Inn in Trenton, not the Quinte Hotel in Belleville. Both have burned down in the past two years and neither will be missed.

[MrTristen420]

oh yeah! trentons cold too many bums

[James Phieffer]

This was set in the Quinte Hotel (originally, and more recently, the Hotel Quinte) in Belleville. Sadly, it was gutted in a fire Dec 20, 2012. But it has seen worse fires in the past, so there may yet be hope that it might be rebuilt.

[J McQuaid]

There was another Quinte Hotel in Belleville. Unlike the Trenton Quinte, it was not really a rough place, to my knowledge never had strippers. It had 3 beverage rooms downstairs in its hey day: the Tropicana Room, the Green Door both offered music. The "Mens" bar was Ernie's Corral. I guess 2012 was a bad year for Quinte Hotels, it burned down last night too.

[bananabrianna1]

The Quinte Hotel, now known as The Sherwood Forest Inn,burned down today.

[John K Lindgren]

Les Canadiens!

[rrtodd95]

I first read this poem in a magazine in a doctor's waiting room when I was 14 back in 1986 and quickly fell in love with Al's writing.

His poems spoke of hockey players, home made beer and fist fights in canadian dive bars. What else could a Canadian prairie boy growing up in the inner city want.

It led me to Splinter in the Heart, then to Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Leonard Cohen and many other wonderful poet/writers.

[PlaygroundPolitician]

i liked this, i woulda liked Gord's voice more

[chrook]

Yes, being from Picton, I spent a few night at the Quinte 30+ yrs back.

[billaroyamaha2]

great story,,,, tell us more please!